Oak Ridge Wildcats fall 25-10 in Playoffs

It was a cold and damp night for the first round playoff match-up at East Hamilton, a new school on the Ooltewah-Ringgold Road, and Oak Ridge would lead at half-time only to see the Hurricanes capitalize on three second half turnovers to come up with a 25-10 win and end the Wildcats season.

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By Keith Hyatt

Oakridger - Oak Ridge, TN

By Keith Hyatt

Posted Nov. 12, 2013 at 5:27 PM

By Keith Hyatt

Posted Nov. 12, 2013 at 5:27 PM

Ooltewah, Tenn.

It was a cold and damp night for the first round playoff match-up at East Hamilton, a new school on the Ooltewah-Ringgold Road, and Oak Ridge would lead at half-time only to see the Hurricanes capitalize on three second half turnovers to come up with a 25-10 win and end the Wildcats season.

East Hamilton won the toss and deferred to the second half, leaving Oak Ridge to get the ball first. The Wildcats would start on their own 36 and pick up a couple of first downs before punting, backing up the Hurricanes to their own 5 yard line on Hunter Sumner’s punt. The Wildcat defense forced a three and out and a weak punt from the Hurricanes put Oak Ridge in business on the 31 yard line. Oak Ridge would reach the Hurricane 6 before the drive would stall and Brandon Nickle would come through with a 21-yard field goal to give the Wildcats a 3-0 lead with 2:47 left in the 1st Quarter. The Hurricanes would pick up a couple of first downs only to lose a fumble at the Oak Ridge 40 as the quarter ended.

The 2nd Quarter started with Oak Ridge having the ball on their own 40 with an opportunity to add to the lead, but they were not able to get past the Hurricane 35 and turned the ball over on downs there. The Hurricanes would come up with a big play on the Wildcat 45 with the running back taking it straight up the middle, catching the Wildcats in a blitz and go in for the score and with the extra point, a 7-3 lead with 6:48 left in the half. Oak Ridge would come right back with Jaylin Henderson finding Jiminquas Johnson on the Hurricane sideline and he made a nice catch to take it away from the defender and take it to the Hurricane 11. Henderson would be sacked, but come back with an 11-yard touchdown pass over the middle to Blake Goins and the Wildcats would regain the lead with Nickle’s extra point at 10-7 with 3:28 left in the half. East Hamilton would pick up a first down then punt it away and Oak Ridge would get the ball to finish the half.

In the 3rd Quarter, East Hamilton would start on the 35 after the kickoff went out of bounds and come up with a drive that would end with a game tying 20-yard field goal. The Hurricanes converted several 3rd down plays to keep the drive alive and it was tied 10-10 with 6:52 left in the 3rd Quarter. The game seemed to unravel for the Wildcats from here on as they were able to drive to the Hurricane 18 only to see Nickle’s 35 yard field goal attempt sail wide right. The teams would trade punts and then with the ball on the Hurricane 48, the first of three huge turnovers would happen and the hand-off exchange was fumbled and East Hamilton would recover on the Wildcat 46. The Hurricanes would again pick up key third downs going to their star receiver Tre Herndon, who seemed to always find a way to be open. He would make a big catch at the Oak Ridge 5, then the quarterback would run the ball in for a touchdown to put the Hurricanes in the lead. They would miss the extra point and give Oak Ridge a door cracked open, at 16-10 with 27.3 seconds left in the 3rd Quarter.

Page 2 of 2 - The 4th quarter saw the Wildcats starting with a 2nd down and 8 at the 45, but they were unable to convert and the Hurricanes loaded up the left side and poured in on punter Hunter Sumner, blocking the kick and recovering it at the Wildcat 36. The Hurricanes would score on the next play, lining up in the I, the tailback took it right over tackle and sped untouched the rest of the way to the end zone and with the extra point, the Hurricanes would now lead 23-10 with 10:59 left in the game. Oak Ridge would start at the 25 and manage one first down before punting the ball away. East Hamilton would go conservative, focusing more on running the clock. They would break a sweep for a touchdown, but it was called back due to holding, so they would punt and it would be a good one, down on the Oak Ridge 7. The Wildcats would get a false start and a running play, which would go nowhere, before a snap would sail past Henderson and out of the back of the end zone for a safety, putting the Hurricanes up 25-10 with 4:15 left. Oak Ridge would get one more chance after that, but be unable to pick up a first down and the Hurricanes would run out the clock for a 25-10 win in the first round of the playoffs.

Oak Ridge falls to 7-4 and that is the final record for this young team that started as many as six sophomores, and promises to return for a much better season in 2014. This group won some big games, and laid the groundwork for future seasons for Coach Joe Gaddis. East Hamilton improves to 9-2 and now faces cross town rival Ooltewah, who defeated the Hurricanes 26-25 earlier in the season. Ooltewah comes off a 47-7 win over Stone Memorial.